Sleep Paralysis: Awake But Still Asleep

good thing i encountered this article. it's a relief to find out that:
1)it's normal,
2) there is scientific explanation for it [perhaps, it'd be nice to post also the references, and link to the original report to show the citations ^^;], and
3) it doesn't pose any major health risk...

however, i experienced SP also while sleeping on my stomach -- there was this feeling of not being able to move because of paralysis but at the same time i felt being 'lifted' up several times. i looked to the side, and my view was shifting up-down repeatedly. why's that happening? please answer thanks! :)

and my heart goes out to those who experience this regularly :) .. i've only encountered this a few times, and it's really scary... i can't imagine the feeling the others have gone through :|

Hi.....I am Aditya and i am 17 for last few months i discovered myself as a victim of sleep paralysis ,and i found that while undergoing such process i feel darkness all around as my eyes r shut, though i am just able to rotate my eyeball but not at all able to move any other part of the body ....i am also able to hear voices of things going around me such as the voice of the vehicle .......and even of the people around m e..during such stage i wish some one comes and make me awake by just touching my body.........or any other means... cause i am not able to awake my self for a period of few seconds or even minutes some times.......i feel some times that i would die hence i am vry much afraid of sleeping .....and i wish i dont sleep atall nor dream ......i dont no whats the problem with my nervous system as the brain and the body r not able to coordinate at such teenage age though i am 100% fine nor i hve any other problem so i wish an expert advice so please sort out my problem
ur advice highly recomended
thanx

I have episodes of SP only a couple times a year but they are quite scary none the less. It usually happens when i first start to fall asleep. I'll close my eyes and then it feels like seconds later they open and I'm paralyzed. I can not move or breathe at all, this usually lasts for about 15-20 seconds. Some times I "hear" or "see" people in my bedroom, other times theres only silence. I always try to yell but nothing comes out. It takes those 15-20 seconds of extreme concentrating to actually start breathing and that is usually when i wake up. This scares me because i feel as if one of these times i won't be able to start breathing again.

i first got in when i was 10 i would wake up and her voices like my mom and sis crying and i would try to help them only to find i couldnt move i am 13 now yes ik im younge but im scared and no one knows wut to do i havnt slept in likea week and my mom is taking me to one of those sleep doctors and has anyone ever heard of being awake and not being able to move or breath and feel like sum ones siting on u or hiting u over and over again if so plz reply back i need answer !!! x.x will it get worse cuz the way yal r tlking i still got a lot of years to go through this i cant do this im scared to go to sleep and im 13 years old for crying out loud x.x its crazy lol but if anyone knows about that comment

I'm get this sp thing once in awile and when i get it there's alway someone tryin to grab me and i feel like if they do it's end of my life i always wake up before they do... i don't know if enybuddy die from this but ... I heard people die in the bed unexplein and thinking because of this....

Sleep paralysis has been an old thing to me. I first experienced it around the age of fourteen and I'm now twenty two.

Although terrifying, I find that trying to move makes the paralysis worst. Sleep paralysis is usually easiest for me to break by relaxing and taking deep breathes until it passes. It helps to keep ones eyes closed because it cuts down on visual hallucinations, because the eyes can't focus well during SP, they tend to blur light and darks into scary images.

Another way I have learned to deal with it is, generally, I hear a loud sound, like a train, and feel rumbling. It peaks, then gets quiet. When the sound dies down, gently start to rock back and forth slowly and attempt to roll over, it usually sparks an OBE (out of body experience) or in other terms, very lucid dreaming. Usually, I find myself standing next to my bed, in which I just climb back into it and re-wake up and I'm not paralyzed anymore.

Generally, the biggest key is to not panic. I know its hard, and I still do it sometimes. But staying calm and breathing deep helps the best.

I find listening to low music during the night helps prevent them from happening as well. Setting an alarm in the early morning, or when you tend to notice SP happens will help snap one out of sleep before SP can occur. or at least it helps me.

And the best help I've had is sleeping with an animal. They are sensitive to small changes humans don't notice. My cat and dog have snapped me out of paralysis a lot by either moving around or jumping up on the bed.

Am a Med student so I believe In science and believe that PS is a neurological problem. Am also somewhat religious, last night it happened I opened my eyes in the middle of the night and couldn't move. I felt as if something was holding me down. I told myself its fine. Am 21 it started when I was 11 or so. Well last night after opening my eyes I stared at the doorway and wall suddenly my dog starts barking and growling at something that looked behind me in the wall I saw a shadow as if someone was standing at the foot of the bed. The dog eyes wouldn't move from that spot. I managed to wake up about 5min later I never felt so scared. Tonight my dog is sleeping with me, maybe its more than science ... help

I'm not sure whether or not I have sleep paralysis, as it doesn't occur that often with me. At first I thought it was fear of something, as sometimes after watching something scary I do get bit frightened of these horrible ideas popping into my mind when I sleep. But after reading all this, I'm leaning towards yes to paralysis. Thankfully though, I'm glad my experiences haven't been as scary as those of some commentators here. However, the fact that I can't move my body at all is much scarier, especially when I have found myself unable to move when my face is sunk into the pillow: suffocating. It takes all my will power to get my body to respond.

It's a very bittersweet feeling reading all the above mentioned posts. I am happy to know nobody is alone in this world dealing with these terrors but, I feel so bad that anybody would have to endure half of thesr stories! It's SO unfortunate. I'm 21 years old and the from what I can recall have only encountered SP a good handful of times in my life. The most vivid time I'd like to remember as my first was when I was 18 & away in college. It was very scary for me at the time becausr not only a week prior to it happening to me, my boyfriend at the time had evil occurences happen to him. He'd wake up in the middle of the night & see dark shadowed figures making a very high pitched laughter at him. Everyone close to us was really shooken up by this esp bc knowing he was not one to talk about stuff such as is or make anything up for that matter. When I turned to my spiritual sister for guidance she began to explain to me her theory on the whole "war over your soul" between the good & evil. Sometimes if you attempt or try to go down a better path in your life is when the "evil" will come take action because that is not what they want. I myself am not that spiritual, buy very logical. So, I've always preferred to take the "Psychology Terms" on this stuff. But, at the same time I cant help but feel like I also believe a lot of these theories on "evil concepts" because they both prove so much. So anyway about a week after my boyfriend experienced these night terrors. I was sleeping one night in the same bed with 2 of my best friends when out of no where I found myself completely awake but my eyes closen. I could not move a single muscle, not even my mouth. It seemed to me the only thing that was working was my brain signals & awareness. Since then it has prob. only happened another good 5 times in the past 3-4 years. I find them very terrifying & frusterating being I am completely paralyzed & cant cry out for help. It always gets the best of me. It's even more annoying that few of the times is always with someone laying right beside me n cant help but wish they'd shake or help me but they are completely clueless as to what is going on. :( :( the only factor I find in the psychological theory is the hereditary part. My brother & sister have both as well experienced it. As for me, I can honestly say I am thankful & fortunate I have never encountered anything really "evil" or scary. I never see images and it only will last for maybe 1 minute max. The most disturbing part is the white noise & scary thoughts in my head while playing out. It's frusterating to try & explain or talk about for that matter because nobody seems to get it n look at me like im nuts! It just happened to me about an hour ago and is what lead me to find this forum website. It leaves me more at ease knowing nobody is alone with this, at least. I hope it doesnt happen again for a long time & esp doesnt escalate to me seeing or hearing scary things w age or as time goes on. I try & believe it has to do w my sleep sched & such as doctors like to lecture but, cant get over what I have read on some of y'alls posts just now, what happened to my old bf before it first started taunting me years ago, n being my OWN sister has had very vivid terrifying ones just like the ones you all have mentioned. :(

good luck...

As I sit here and read everyones post. It is intersting and comforting knowing that I am not alone. For Me to start I will say this, In order to become a doctor or a scientist, I get it. You have to denouce a (GOD) or any entity higher then yourself, in order to be accepted into that certain realm of society, coodos for you. But let me explain something to you all out there. Dont ride out others experience as some normal phenomon you can not even hinder to any solidifide hard evidence on the matter(SP) as you name it is real.

Where I can begin is just a matter of comprehending, so for whom it concerns. Heed and learn something. It may have been at a tender age of 5 yrs old I would say, I was getting ready for my first day of school and my mother was still laying down as she sat up to shout at me to start getting my things together. This goes back some 25 yrs ago, she said she will be in to help me in a few minutes. So I waited, watching a little tv, some cartoons for that matter sesame street was on that morning. Funny, one of the blogs mention wwatching that too. But anyway, I went into my mothers room and as I recall as if it was just yesterday. The room was bright with sunshine from the morning sun, thru the windows. As I look upon the bed, A strange grayish image, short had sat there upon my mother. She look at me, in tottal shock. As if she wanted to scream. I tried my very best to shake her but she wouldnt budge. She felt as heavy as anything else Ive imagine, the image just sat and never moved.

The only thing I could have thought of, was to go get grandma, so I ran down to the basement yelling for my grandmother to come and help. When we got there back to the room My mother manage to move somewhat. My grandmother said something to my mother, and aloud in the room. And that was that. That hadnt occured again.

As for me, I ask my mother why she couldnt move she never wanted to talk about it, although I have seen the fear in her eyes. Now maybe when I was 6 or 7 I began to have these strange demeaning images in my sleep. They were distorted, very very violent, black and grayish. And this never made any sense, at one minute it could be all calm and quiet, the next all choas would occur and very rapid. Like as if you press fast forward 16X on you dvd player, just plain old weird. But it wasnt good, images of distructions and twisted beings and worldly events.

Now I try to block them out, when I was young. They never occured for quite a few years. When I just was about to turn seventeen, my grandmother had passed away, in july. I was in my bedroom laying on my back, not really asleep, just laying there. I felt the presence that someone was in the room. Not one but two! I know my mother would tell me that my grandma use to visit her after she passed. But I never rule out why and how come. Now I dont want to throw anyone off that is reading this, but listen here. I was fully awoke, granted the lights were off in my bedroom, yet these two images were by my locked closet door, my room was all white walled painted white walls. And I could clearly see the images, one the height of my granny whod passed and the other a tall darker image. As I stood up and got out of bed, every single hair on my body was pointed out like ive been electrified. I woke closer to the images, to make out what is being said, like lipreading. But when my granny hand began reachin out it became a weirder feeling as I strecth my arm out aswell. I got so scared I book it oout of my room, downstairs. I never look back, when I got downstairs I told my older brother what had happen, he was in the kithcen doing the dishes for the nite. As he listen, he turn around and fir some strange reason he began glowing, like a natural auroa was surounding him. I told him about that too, I have never seen that before.

Now to try to speed things up now, I had been in the service for almost 9 yrs now. When I had gotten back from my first deployment. I was overseas station in the U.K. I had just moved into a new house, all by myself I wasnt married yet. I had a fellow brother in Christ, an elder come by and christening my home for me. With oinment he baptized my home, with the oinment around the doors and window seals. My granny said that usually people used franckin scent. Well I guess the oil will suffice in this matter. Then we prayed, and evrything was good. He left and that was that.

If not that night it was a few nights after. I remember being in my house and there wasnt anyone there but me. I had began preping to lay down to go to bed. But beforehand, I was on the front portion of my bed on my knees reading my bible. As I closed my eyes and began my personal prayer after the "Our Father Prayer" I could hear something running up mysteps. As I continue praying, I could hear it ...(this is becoming difficult for me to write these memoirs right now) breaking the corner coming around the bend of the stairway towards my closed door bedroom. I continued to pray and then I heard someone completey burst through my door and a strong force knocking to my behind as I was praying. I immediately open my eyes to find nothing there. Completey scared to death I try calling home to the states and speak to someone.

My mother told me, to try getting some franckin scent and play some spirtitual music in my home. So I did that, I couldnt rest easy. So it did help but not that not that night. I had jump in my car, for all I knew this house of mine was haunted I was overseas station in the U.K. I had just moved into a new house, all by myself I wasnt married yet. I had a fellow brother in Christ, an elder come by and christening my home for me. With oinment he baptized my home, with the oinment around the doors and window seals. My granny said that usually people used franckin scent. Well I guess the oil will suffice in this matter. Then we prayed, and evrything was good. He left and that was that.

If not that night it was a few nights after. I remember being in my house and there wasnt anyone there but me. I had began preping to lay down to go to bed. But beforehand, I was on the front portion of my bed on my knees reading my bible. As I closed my eyes and began my personal prayer after the "Our Father Prayer" I could hear something running up mysteps. As I continue praying, I could hear it ...(this is becoming difficult for me to write these memoirs right now) breaking the corner coming around the bend of the stairway towards my closed door bedroom. I continued to pray and then I heard someone completey burst through my door and a strong force knocking to my behind as I was praying. I immediately open my eyes to find nothing there. Completey scared to death I try calling home to the states and speak to someone.

My mother told me, to try getting some franckin scent and play some spirtitual music in my home. So I did that, I couldnt rest easy. So it did help but not that not that night. I had jump in my car, for all I knew this house of mine was haunted. I grab everything I needed for work the next day,bag pack and everything. I drove just about anywhere to get away. I rdove for hours, when this began it was about 1045pm in my home, I drove til there wasnt anywhere else to go. So now it was about 245 going on 300. With no where else to go, I went on base for I lived off base, and park at my jobs parking lot. I had a few cigarettes to take the edge off, I had turn the lights off in the vehicle and just sat. I had the windows up and had manage to dose off. Great I was able to get some shut eye, momentarily only to be awaken with someone gripping my neck and another hand massaging my penis in a stroking motion. I manage to crack open my eye good enough to glimpse what was doing this to me, and it was a graayish image sitting in my passenger seat. I blurted out from shreiking, Yo..Get the F#%k off me!! It vanish, and as it was fading away I could hear it laughing. The laughter was an echo, I will never forget. For it was like in a wind laughing at me.

And from that day I never ever look at life the same. For all these years, know Im not taken anything from anyone into church and strong believers of faith. That scared the heck of of me, my world become so much more smaller. I felt so out cast, for I couldnt really turn for answer to anyone. I try going to church to asked about it. I never got any real good defining way of defending myself. Nor scientific explaination, for one thing science can not explain, how is it that this things are happening in the waken hour not in the sleep stages of REM as you call it. But right here in the phyisical the touch the sound the presents all in the physical. If you ask me, no disrespect to whomever done the research on it. Your full of $!#t you dont know what your talking about. You know the only post that Ive read that sort of made sense including with these experience in the guy that mention the jinn, thin. Im not muslim but there isnt any diffenrence to the similar findings.

For I was once told by elders, many many times before. that as you are asleep there is a war being wage over your being, your very soul. Hey some you win some you lose, its far more than some scientifical explaination for it. For it proves to have some meaning to it. I called it "shadow Wars" since 1998, if only I knew what it was all about. I guess I must have premedated the name of the circumstance until it happen to me.

As for a solution, many tried different things to fix the problem. I turn to melatonin and acohol for a discent nite of rest. Its pitiful but that was all I was left with. I do find it convient to sleep on your side to prevent being choke but you will still be violated in your sleep against your will. Man and female. So as for the S.U.N.D.S granted that is a life or death matter when your asleep. Some people make it out every morning some just dont thats all it is. I know it sounds scary but its the truth, now keep in mind. Im no doctor or have a degree in these pschological but I can tell you this. How can something like this be proven, some people can sense these things with out being asleep. So stop calling it halcinauting. Its real, point blank. I sense it the good presense and then the bad ones too. Hey you also want to know something. Here is a (did you know trivia for you) ..if they dont erase my entire blog entry. the same guy. who invented the webster dictionary they called him crazy. For he kept claiming that he was being molested in he;s room at night when he slept. And instead of solving the matter they send him to an asylum in scotland until he died. Google that S$%t.

I Had sleep studies done and I was was told is that it is sleep Apnea. I beg to differ. I can continue to go on, but I will leave you with this. it is true whenyou do let go, your body do leave the physical realm and float entirely. If I didnt know better, I would say when you dream you are actually reacting out old past pretents from a previous life but hey i dont want to get to far off subject. I remember a few years ago. I was laying in bed with my girlfriend. And I could see these shadow with horns sitting on top of her dresser, I was laying on my back. It was starting to break dawn of with the sun coming in, she got up to go use the bathroom and my eyes were fix following her, as I was about to get out of bed. I could see something pressing down on the sheet I was covered up with. And now I can see where both my legs were from the imprint for something was sitting on me. By time she came back to me in the bedroom. I was completly paralyzed.She attempt to move me But my body kind of almost entireky sank into the mattress, she said I felt so heavy I couldnt move no matter how hard she tried. After I dont recall how long, had went by. I finally moved, the bare minimum, for my back had gone out on me. I had to call in to work, and as for me being in the military you cant just call out. So I had went straight to sick call, for my back. I was 24 at the time. And that only happen once before then, its crazy its as if it knew I seen it. But before I could say anything it pin me, my girlfriend wa also pegrenant at the time. And she would tell me of how she would wake up from a dream of some guy choking her, by a cliff. And holding our baby too. We did have a stillborn baby. That did make me take a whole different look at relegion after that. It hurt me bad, I mean bad to the core. I was scorn, for my child deserve to live who knows what could have cause that. But I let you give you assumptions.

So just for the record if your reading this. Dont judge someone, for the dudee that made the ignorant comment about the jinn guys comment that he smoking meth. Just take people experience for what its worth, believe or not. Thats up to you, Fear what you dont understand I guess thats just the theory of men.

Altogether

I hope this posting will help some individual out there, and shed some more light on the matter, for when your time is up to clock out. All your questions will eventually be answerd. And I will still say these being are in another realm that is crossing over within ours, question is are you going to remain asleep and ignore it. Like its not happening to you, or you going to do something about it.

Continue studying ones self, Life is a journey. Good day people
Peace Be Upon You All

i just had that happen to me this morning at 4:30 scared me sp bad i called my brother in the next room after it eneded and had him stay up with me cas i though it waslike possesion like a demon i could open my eyes but i couldnt mpve them or talk or move my ears rang and when it was done i felt like someone was watching me hateing me wanting me and my famalie to die so i stayed up with my bro to calm down it makes me feel better its now evil just a sleep thing i even tryed praying for it fear to end and it did nothing everything seemed horrible it is the worste thing ever

I started having these when I was about 12. I remember taking naps after school waking up and not being able to move or speak. I knew it wasnt a dream because the entire time I could hear Sesame Street in the background on tv. Back then it seemed so minor that I never mentioned it to anybody.
FAST FORWARD....I am now 34 and I get this on a regular basis and each time it proves to be just as scary as the first time! I find that it almost always happen when I am extremely tired or sleep deprived. I start to get this "feeling" which is usually my warning but then I just get so sleepy and it seems to just "take over me" my way of "fighting" it is to try to shake my head back and forth hoping to come out of it. I usually have control of my eyes and can see but I am scared of what I might see so when this happens during the night I try to squint so that I dont focus on anything but at the same time I know not to allow my eyes to close completely. I usually hear things in the background, whatever is on tv but sometimes I can hear my family or footsteps to awake and find that I'm home alone. I always feel as though it's hard to breath and I get the feeling that something is touching me, sometimes sexually. (not fondling but pressure around my private parts) Even though I cant talk I can get out this agonizing moan that is my family's cue to try and wake me. I've even asked if they can feel or see me shaking my head back and forth and they said no! Like somebody mentioned before if this does happen, once it passes try to stay awake!! Other wise it has the ability to keep happening. My mother is very spiritual and asked me if I had been watching any scary movies or reading any horoscope/astrology literature so I dont know if this is Scientific or Paranoramal? I would like to see a documentary done on this topic if it hasnt because this is proving to be a "not so rare condition" as evidenced by all the comments. I hope all of you find ways to cope with this until there is a concrete rememdy. Until then I am SCARED of the unknown and I most definately NOT be "riding it out" to see what happens!!!!

I've recently had experiences with SP. At first i believed it to be from stress, and it continued. But when i didn't really think about it, it became a nightly thing. I would wake up in tears all the time because im so afraid and don't understand whats going on. Theories about being haunted by ghost or aliens, or something was talked between my family and myself. Another thought was it being seizures, but the doctors ruled that out.I remember several nights i would wake up, can't move or speak, I'm breathing hard, or i can barley breathe at all, and I'd see things pinning me down. I'd tell them in my head to go away, your not real, or by the power and being of my god i command you to leave. Normally it worked, but when the nights SP would happen it started to not work. Now i don't know what to do.